Women's History in the Collections

Seneca beaded skirt, c. 1849

This beaded skirt was made by Caroline Parker, a member of the Seneca Iroquois family
headed by William Parker who acted as informants, consultants, interpreters, and friends to
Lewis H. Morgan, who in the mid-nineteenth century brought together the first collections of
ethnographic materials for what would become the New York State Museum. In 1849, Morgan
acquired complete Seneca woman's and man's ceremonial costumes of the day, including this
skirt. In the daguerreotype, Caroline Parker is shown wearing the woman's costume, consisting
of beaded moccasins, leggings, skirt, overdress, blanket, and handbag, most if not all of which
she herself had made.

The dress style has many similarities to that of the larger New York community during
the 1840s, but the beadwork, in particular, distinguishes it as Native American. (A non-Indian
woman, for instance, would have worn lace-trimmed pantalettes instead of bead-trimmed
leggings.) Later in the century, beaded bags and non-utilitarian "whimsies" sold to tourists at
places like Niagara Falls became an important source of income for Iroquois women helping to
support their families.

By 1849, Caroline Parker at age 19 already was a highly skilled needlewoman. In his
1851 report to the Regents of the University, Morgan described a slightly more elaborate skirt by
her as "without question the finest specimen of Indian beadwork ever exhibited," and went on to
credit its maker by name, "to whose finished taste, and patient industry the State is indebted for
most of the many beautiful specimens of beadwork embroidery now in the Indian collection."

In 1850, the New York state legislature passed a bill, introduced by Morgan, to support
Indian students at the State Normal School (a teachers' college) in Albany. Caroline Parker and
her younger brother Newton were among the first enrollees under this program.